861-1351

About Kobyz:
This instrument's lot has been a hard one. Kobyz can be named as an original carrier of ethnic history of the Kazakhs presented by the epic literature and instrumental music. However, this did not protect it from persecutions. Initially, kobyz was the instrument of shamans (baksy), and it was this circumstance that became a convenient reason for withdrawing it from the new built civilized world "as a vestige of the dark past", and thus "condemning it to disappearance.

...more on kobyz http://www.asylmura.kz/english/diski/index.php?p=kobyz
http://www.answers.com/topic/kobyz

Qobyz's closest relative-saz:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6CoPAtsEG9k
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FGUH_EXPEl0&mode=relat... (less info)